called Marudhanayagam. Now, 10 years on, I hear about a movie called Marma Yogi. Both movies have two things in common. One is Kamal Haasan and the other is the fact that they have been put off due to lack of funds. Undoubtedly, both these movies are the most ambitious ones that the legend has undertaken in his life and yet it is indeed sad that they had to come to such a fate. Rewinding back to the day I first heard about Marudhanayagam. At that time, the significance of what was being undertaken never really struck me and the only thing that I grasped from the entire matter is that Kamal Haasan would be the man behind the movie. Also, there was the interesting and eye catching fact that Queen Elizabeth was present in person to clap off the movie. I must admit that I did wonder as to why Queen Elizabeth should decide to be part of the first shot of a Tamil movie.

Now, I realize that she was wise enough to identify the extraordinary when she saw it and decided to be part of something that could have gone down as part of cinema history. Instead, we have that movie, with just a trailer doing the rounds on the internet, languishing in the list of the never-beens of Tamil cinema. Talking of the trailer, I do not know how many of you have watched the full one on the internet or by any other means, but I think you would agree that the approximate 3 minute something trailer is perhaps the most glowing proof of Kamal Haasan’s timeless genius. The reason I used the word ‘timeless’ is simple. Whatever we still watch on internet in awe and amazement is something that was shot nearly a decade back. In the 10 years that have come to pass, we have seen the science and technology of cinema evolve leaps and bounds to the point that whatever was the norm 10 years ago is now considered obsolete. But even in this wave of development, those few shots of Marudhanayagam have not looked one bit outdated, now that is what you call timelessness. Only truly blessed genius can create timeless magic, like Charles Spencer Chaplin, Sivaji Ganesan and Kamal Haasan.

It is sad that fate chose to skew the biggest dream of the art’s most committed genius. Kamal has moved on from Marudhanayagam, though the popular guess is that the story of the warrior is still well preserved in his heart. On the canvas that has been afforded to him, he has accomplished a few masterly strokes with his artistry, even a first of its kind effort (Dasavatharam) and stepped into another big dream that he called Marma yogi. But fate seems to have brought him full circle from Marudhanayagam and made him put away another of his big and grand dreams. There are doubts that Marma Yogi might be forced to end up as another Marudhanayagam, we certainly don’t want that to happen. Looking at the facts alone, Marma Yogi has been indefinitely postponed and may be forced to the point of being shelved if viable alternatives for funds do not emerge. And, on the optimistic side, hope that the very fate that shelved these dreams revives and allows cinema’s most committed genius to fulfill them. In a career lit up by landmarks, two unfulfilled dreams would never be appropriate. Kamal Haasan deserves the chance to live his dreams. Let’s hope for the best.

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